Category Archives: English 11

Spoken Language 11 Debating

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My Debate Topic: Children’s rights

ProCon
ChazaiJada
SageTiffany

With our debate, my partner Sage and I were debating against Jada and Tiffany that the right to determine all matters for their children should fall with the parents, with Sage and I representing the affirmative. Some of the main points that came up were that children are not mentally mature enough to make big decisions for themselves and are already dealing with enough stress from school, so by allowing parents to make decisions for their children, it would take some of the burden off of their shoulders. The opposing side brought up the fact that decision making is a skill rather than a privilege, and thus shouldn’t be given at a certain age.

My Debate Reflection

I found debating very fun and challenging. I wasn’t used to talking in front of a big group or arguing in a professional setting, so it was a nice learning experience. My strengths fell with my arguments themselves, as I always received good feedback in terms of the quality of my arguments. On the other hand, I received feedback that I lacked stage presence and I definitely agreed. I was very clearly nervous during the first debate, speaking too fast and not making eye contact, which I fixed for the second debate by slowing down when I spoke and emphasizing what needed to be emphasized.

The Best Resource I Found

https://family.legalaid.bc.ca/children/parenting-guardianship/best-interests-child

This was the best resource I found while researching this topic. It is a credible government source that laid out all of the legal rights that parents have when it comes to decision-making for their children. The website provided a lot of insight for the topic and helped me form my arguments.

My Favourite Quote

https://everydaypower.com/debate-quotes/

I chose this as my favourite quote because I felt that it really reflected the criteria that we were under while arguing. When the judges were filling out their sheets, they would score us on a scale of 1-3 based on how we presented our arguments, rather than what the argument actually was. Therefore, in this context, our actions mattered more than our arguments, as we had to make sure that we had confidence to score high.

Works Cited

Best Interests of the Child | Family Law in BC. https://family.legalaid.bc.ca/children/parenting-guardianship/best-interests-child. Accessed 25 May 2023.

Canada – Place Explorer – Data Commons. https://datacommons.org/place/country/CAN/?utm_medium=explore&mprop=lifeExpectancy&popt=Person&hl=en. Accessed 25 May 2023.

“Do Teenagers Really Make Bad Decisions?” Frontiers for Young Minds, https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2017.00053. Accessed 25 May 2023.

Government of Canada, Department of Justice. Department of Justice – Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Children’s Participatory Rights in Canada. 18 Mar. 2016, https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/article12/p3a.html#:~:text=Generally%2C%20parents%20are%20entitled%20to,governing%20consent%20to%20medical%20treatment.

“Know the Law: Children and Consent to Health Care.” Dial-A-Law, https://dialalaw.peopleslawschool.ca/children-and-consent-to-health-care/. Accessed 25 May 2023.

“Legal Guardianship BC, Family Law Act BC Guardianship | Thomas & Associates.” GK Thomas, http://gkthomaslaw.ca/guardianship-in-british-columbia/. Accessed 25 May 2023.

Parental Decision Making | UW Department of Bioethics & Humanities. https://depts.washington.edu/bhdept/ethics-medicine/bioethics-topics/detail/72#:~:text=Parents%20have%20the%20responsibility%20and,best%20interests%20of%20the%20child. Accessed 25 May 2023.

“The Adolescent Brain: Beyond Raging Hormones.” Harvard Health, 7 Mar. 2011, https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/the-adolescent-brain-beyond-raging-hormones.

Youth Age-Based Legal Rights in BC| Legal Rights for Youth. http://legalrightsforyouth.ca/age-based-legal-rights. Accessed 25 May 2023.

Core Competency Reflection

One of the ways I ensure my partner and I are clear on the common purpose is to constantly communicate with each other on our points and opinions. We both made sure that we knew what the other’s arguments were so that if we could help each other come up with rebuttal arguments and prepare for cross examination.

I used criteria and/or feedback to improve my debate; evidence of that is after our first debate, I received feedback about my stage presence when presenting my arguments. Specifically, I was told to speak slower and more concise, and try to make more eye contact with the audience. I took this feedback and applied it to the second debate, where I received better marks about my stage presence.

When I was faced with ambiguity or setbacks in the debating unit, I would go back to my sources and re-research my topic. I wanted to make sure that I fully understood my topic so that I would be able to debate it and would be prepared for any potential arguments that came my way. By going back to my sources, I would refresh my memory, which would give me new ideas and solve any problems I had.

The Marrow Thieves: Personal Connection Piece

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My Movie

Curricular Competency Reflection

How did your journals support your preparation for your final assessments?

While preparing for the final assessments, I was able to go back to my past journals so that I could see my past thinking while reading the book and used some of the information I put in my journals as sources for my presentations.

How did the graphic organizer help you connect your novel(s) with the sub-themes?

The graphic organizers helped me lay out what sources I wanted to use to back up the points I would talk about when we would write essays. They also allowed me to pre-write what points I wanted to talk about in my essays so that when I went into the essay, I wouldn’t struggle with what to say. The graphic organizers also helped to connect my novel to the sub-themes because I got to lay out my definition of relationships and the “big ideas” made it easy to pick out examples from my sources.

How did participating in the circle help you formulate your ideas for the essay write?

By participating in the circle, I could get new perspectives about my sub-theme that helped when formulating ideas for the essay write, as some people offered insight that I originally wouldn’t have thought of before.

How did you choose what you would do to create the personal connection piece?

I decided to write a song because I’ve written multiple songs before, and it is something that usually comes quite easy to me, especially when there’s something clear that I’m writing about. The fact that we had already gone through the theme of relationships and power extensively also helped in generating lyric ideas for the song.

Core Competency Reflection

An example of where I built upon someone else’s ideas is during our circles, as I was able to provide insight about relationships and how it related to my novel after listening to another person who had read the same book that I did. They explained certain aspects of the book and how the themes within the book related to the theme of relationships, such as the familial relationship that the main character has with the other members of his group. I was able to add on about how their experiences created the circumstances in which they were able to become a family.

I can contribute to and work with criteria to improve my own work; evidence of that is also during our circles. At the start of the semester, I was very awkward when it came to public speaking and wouldn’t make eye contact very much and was clearly nervous. However, as time went on, I got feedback on what I could do to improve. I’ve gotten better at being more engaged with the audience and generally being less nervous.

I can describe how the identities of Indigenous communities relates to my experience growing up in Canada as a 2nd-generation immigrant. We learned about the struggles with identity that Indigenous people face, as their identities as Indigenous people are sometimes not recognized, or they are placed in a box in which they don’t fit, or they are shamed for their identity. I related to this as I was often put into situations where I was shamed for my culture and forced to assimilate to what was considered “normal”, and have had a similar struggle with feeling as though I was a stranger to two different cultures.